F1 Season Finale: Abu Dhabi

[Don Plumley]

The Grid is set - can't wait for the race tomorrow! Nico seems relaxed, but as he said, he needs help. Can Williams be the spoiler? Will the mechanical gremlins revisit Ham's car?

Anyone want to put a prediction in print?

[matt f]

What the heck, I throw something out.
Rosberg wins race/championship.
Ham DNF's from wreck/mechanical.

In reality, I hope it goes down to Rosberg leading in final laps with Massa/Bottas/Riccardo challenging Hamilton for 2nd.

Matt

[sand_man]

That facility is unbelievable!!! Almost resembles a movie set or a video game! It doesn't look real, it's so clean.

As for the race tomorrow, I dunno. Seems like things have to line up just right for Nico to take the championship. Winning the poll is certainly a good start, but Hammy has chased him down before. It will be interesting!

[sand_man]

It was awesome to see the Williams team qualify so well!

[yellowperil]

Podium: Ham, Vettel, RickyRicardo. Maldonato in a wall somewhere. Alonso Out early.

[BRPORSCHE]

Red Bulls starting from the back of the grid due to flexi wings! This is going to be a good one guys!

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by yellowperil

Maldonato in a wall somewhere.

oh, way to go out on a limb

[strupgolf]

Rosberg does seem relaxed, hope he can pull it out, Massa second, Botus third. Hammy goes wide on turn 10, drops out of contention. Oh well, hope it's good race.

[yellowperil]

Originally Posted by nostatic

oh, way to go out on a limb

Here's another one: Rosey goes to the hair dresser and forgets to start race,

[motion]

I hope Rosberg wins the WDC. He seems like a good guy and he has the qualifying speed over Hammy. Hamilton is a class 1 douchebag, but I will concede that he has the race pace in the 2nd half of the season and probably deserves the championship more.

[chapo]

Agree with Motion

[Hodgey]

Hamilton for the Championship, the win and the 'f@ck you' to his smarmy team mate who relies on Gremlins and a stupid old English prick to change the rules for double points.....unbelievable. Oh yeah.....I am English and biased too before anyone mentions it

[motion]

Originally Posted by Hodgey

Hamilton for the Championship, the win and the 'f@ck you' to his smarmy team mate who relies on Gremlins and a stupid old English prick to change the rules for double points.....unbelievable. Oh yeah.....I am English and biased too before anyone mentions it

You're not Neil Hodgson, are you? He used to live down the road from me in Laguna Beach. Cool dude.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by motion

I hope Rosberg wins the WDC. He seems like a good guy and he has the qualifying speed over Hammy. Hamilton is a class 1 douchebag, but I will concede that he has the race pace in the 2nd half of the season and probably deserves the championship more.

What happens on Saturday doesn't mean anything. Hamilton is the better racer, Rosberg the better qualifier, Alonso probably the best driver but he's on the wrong side of 30 at this point.

That said, Rosberg seems loose and probably has a psychological edge at this point. It is Hamilton's to lose and I think he's feeling that. But he also isn't the same young kid that he was back in '07-'08. He knows what needs to be done. And that means just finishing 2nd. His problem is that Williams has serious pace and Massa will likely be pushing very hard. I think he'll end up tangling with either Rosberg or Hamilton. Bottas ftw.

[motion]

Yeah, I think there's going to be some fireworks. One of them will DNF. Despite their on-screen personas, these 2 really dislike each other. I doubt Massa will push them. Has anyone had pace on Mercedes this year?

[nostatic]

Race pace, yes, as evidenced by Riciardo's wins and a number of Williams podiums. If you erase Rosbergs one flying lap the Williams cars were plenty close. Add in a full tank of gas and guys trying to make one final statement in 2014 and it might get interesting. But I think some mechanical will actually decide things.

[Don Plumley]

I used to dislike Ham. But with his mechanical problems, back of the grid and Pit starts to 2nd place, Nico admitting hitting him -> More wins in the season: I'm pulling for Hamilton for the win.

I agree that Nico has a bit of an edge, but I see a Nico-Ham 1 and 2, with Ham for the WDC. Williams makes a bit of a charge but are sidelined by some sort of mishap - it has got to be bad luck to remove the red stripe from the logo...

[Don Plumley]

Woah - Redbull excluded from qualifying for flexible front wings

[Noah930]

A lot of planets need to align for Nico to win the championship. While I'd rather see him win, I think Hamilton will take it by finishing P2.

[livi]

All in all its nice to have a season that is actually exciting to the very last race of the season. Who ever wins its the creme de la creme of race drivers at a fantastic arena. A front row seat ticket would have been really nice.